WENATCHEE, WA - The wait is over and CMI Orchard’s Envy™ apples are here. Showing up fashionably late—three weeks later than last year—excitement has been high for the coming crop’s fall debut, and even supermarket sales data has confirmed that Envy is one of the fastest growing apples in the market right now.

CMI’s Vice President of Marketing, George Harter, weighed in on the clamor to get Envy back in stores, having noted that this season will see a large increase in production.

“Envy ranked #11 last year in total apple sales, while generating year-over-year dollar growth of nearly 30 percent, higher than all varieties ranked in the top 10,” said Harter. “Ever since the supplies of Envy ran out, retailers have been anxious to get this apple back in front of their customers.”

So, what is the key to the variety’s success in the market so far? Harter said it's all due to a little love and a lot of loyalty from its returning shoppers.

“We know from field reports that Envy gets high marks from retailers for driving repeat sales,” he explains. “Nielsen data shows that Envy sales per store jumped by over 20 percent this year, quantifying that Envy is a very strong repeat purchase apple.”

And with that in mind, the crew at CMI has prepared to take on increased demand.

“At CMI, our estimates indicate a jump of over 50 percent in Envy production this season,” Steve Lutz, the company’s Senior Strategist explained. “That translates to having Envy available to cover more stores, longer into the season.”

And these increased production numbers should also translate to strong sales at the store level, Lutz continued, thanks to strong pricing for the variety. “Envy carried the 2^nd highest retail price (behind only Honeycrisp) of any variety in the top 30. Envy was one of only a handful of apples that actually sustained a slight increase in average retail price last year. The fact is, consumers are buying more Envy at higher prices.”

So, with increased product, plus strong pricing, retailers may just be seeing strong results to match, Harter said. “Last year, supermarket distribution of Envy was just under 39 percent. With our big production jump, combined with production increases from Rainier and Oppy, we’re hoping to see Envy distribution exceed 50 percent for the first time this season.”

Last year’s tight supplies meant on a few months of selling envy for most retailers, Harter added, but this year’s broader distribution and supplies that will likely last much longer into 2018 and into the beginning of the New Zealand import season next summer, we can expect a new flourish of the sought-after apple in-store.

“Now is the time to jump on Envy,” said Harter. “Envy is driving repeat purchases, it’s selling in more stores nationally, and it’s doing all this at shelf prices second only to Honeycrisp—that’s a winning formula.”

U.S.-based Envy apples are grown and marketed by CMI Orchards, Rainier Fruit Company, and Oppy, and Envy is a registered trademark of ENZAFRUIT New Zealand International Ltd. To learn more about the apple that will be hitting produce departments ASAP, check out www.envyapples.com.

CMI Orchards Envy Apples